1 Islamic Business Ethics: Principles and Contemporary Applications (Fall 2017) Umar F. Moghul Following the Global Financ
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Islamic Business Ethics: Principles and Contemporary Applications (Fall 2017) Umar F. Moghul Following the global financial crisis of 2007-08, we are witnessing expanding socially and ethically conscious business initiatives. Contemporary Islamic banking and finance is a rapidly growing subset of these initiatives in many respects. In this course, we will consider the application of Islamic ethics, spirituality, and jurisprudence to earning, consuming, and investing, and in building community infrastructure, both tangible and intangible. In particular, we will study stakeholder theory, concepts of sustainability, environmental consciousness and animal welfare, labor, and halal markets. Further, we will examine contemporary Islamic finance vehicles, particularly Islamic home finance in the U.S., the landmark Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes Fatwa, and designing community impact through capital/ opportunity generation. Finally, we will explore debates of form and substance, maslahah (welfare) and the objectives of the Shari’ah, and responsibility and impact throughout the course. Please note that this is an online course. I can be reached on email at [email protected] or +1 646 821 5837. I will make myself available upon request with advance notice. I do hope we have the chance to meet in person. Required Texts: Umar F. Moghul, A Socially Responsible Islamic Finance: Character and the Common Good (Palgrave-MacMillan, February 2017). Other readings will be made available at the Hartford Seminary Library or online. Recommended Readings: Recommended readings are organized following the next section. 1 Course Schedule Please note: 1. You should complete the readings in the order listed. 2. All times given refer to U.S. Eastern time. Session 1: Introductory Matters (September 5 – September 10) Intended Outcomes: The ability to describe contemporary Islamic Finance industry itself and in the context of the global responsible financial markets. Required Readings: 1. Hossein Askari, et. al., Globalization and Islamic Finance (2010) [hereinafter Globalization and Islamic Finance], p. 47-52; 59-68; 68-77; 80-93; 94-111; 111-119. 2. Benjamin J. Richardson, Socially Responsible Investment Law: Regulating the Unseen Polluters (2008), Pages 43-73. Session 2: Earning and Consuming, Ethics and Economics (September 11 – 16) Intended Outcome: Understanding some Islamic ethics and spiritual notions relating to earning and consuming. Required Readings: 1. Umar F. Moghul, A Socially Responsible Islamic Finance, Chapter 1. 2. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, The Book of The Proprieties of Earning and Living (Kitab Adab al-Kasb wa-al-Ma’ash), Translated by Adi Setia, Pages, 107-117. 2. Muhammad Hashim Kamali, The Right to Education, Work, and Welfare in Islam (2010), Pages 96-121. Session 3: Stakeholder Considerations (September 17 – 24) *****SEPTEMBER 23: QUIZ #1***** Intended Outcome: The ability to identify stakeholders with either a right or obligation and contextualize them within a economic setting. 2 Required Readings: 1. Askari, et. al., Globalization and Islamic Finance, Pages 11-25. 2. Rafik Beekun and Jamal Badawi, Balancing Ethical Responsibility among Multiple Organizational Stakeholders: The Islamic Perspective, Journal of Business Ethics Vol 60, p. 131-145 (2005). 3. Musa Furber, Obligations to Future Generations: A Shari’ah Perspective, available at http://www.tabahfoundation.org/en/research/activities/papers/?action=view&id=27. Session 4: Substantive and Procedural Principles (September 25 – October 4) Intended Outcome: The ability to explain certain noteworthy Islamic financial-legal-ethical principles. Required Readings: Topic 1 – Riba: 1. Historic Judgment on Interest (1992) 44 PLD (FSC) 1 (December 7, 1991) You are required to read ONLY paragraphs: 39-42; 49-54; 58-61;66-72; 90-99; 107-112; 116-126; 135-152; 161-169; and 185-188, available at http://www.albalagh.net/islamic_economics/riba_judgment.shtml. 2. Muhammad Ayub, Understanding Islamic Finance (2007), p. 89-90; 81-82; 159- 167. Topic 2 - Gharar: 1. Kamali, Islamic Commerical Law: An Analysis of Futures and Options (2000), p. 84-93; 95-96. 2. Mohammed Burhan Arbouna, The Combination of Contracts in Shari'ah: A Possible Mechanism for Product Development in Islamic Banking and Finance, Thunderbird Int'l Bus. Review, Vol. 49(3), 341-369 (May - June 2007). Session 5: The DJIMI Fatwa: Opening Markets (October 5 – October 9) Intended Outcome: The ability to explain the actual and potential role of fatwa and their potential impact, and to understand a contemporary view of Islamic legal-ethics towards public equities. Required Reading: 3 1. The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, Statement by the Shari’ah Supervisory Board. 2. Moghul, A Socially Responsible Islamic Finance, Chapter 4. Session 6: Three Nominate Contract Forms (October 10 – October 18) Intended Outcome: The ability to understand three basic contract forms, as classically envisioned and as applied contemporarily in structuring transactions and products. Required Readings: Topic 1 - The Contract of Murabaha (Cost Plus Mark-up Sale): 1. Ayub, Understanding Islamic Finance, p. 213-240. 2. Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) Shari’ah Standards No. 8, Murabahah to the Purchase Orderer. *Please note that the entire work of AAOIFI Standards is available at the UConn Law Library. Topic 2 - The Contract of Ijara (Lease): 1. Ayub, Understanding Islamic Finance, p. 279-306. 2. AAOIFI, Shariah Standards No. 9, Ijarah and Ijarah Muntahia Bitamleek. Topic 3 - The Contract of Shirkah (Partnership): 1. Ayub, Understanding Islamic Finance, p. 307-345. 2. AAOIFI, Shari'ah Standards No. 12. Sharika (Musharaka) and Modern Corporations. Session 7: Wholesale American Islamic Finance (October 19 – October 28) Intended Outcomes: The ability to describe contemporary wholesale Islamic finance structures within the context of the laws and customs in which they take place and to consider the same in light of Islamic ethics/ spiritual concepts. Required Readings: 1. Umar F. Moghul, Separating the Good from the Bad: Developments in Islamic Acquisition Financing, American University International Law Review, Vol. 23, No. 4 (2008). 4 2. Umar F. Moghul, No Pain, No Gain: The State of the Industry in Light of an American Islamic Private Equity Transaction, Univ. Chicago J. Int'l Law (Winter 2007). Session 8: Contemporary Islamic Home Finance in America (October 29 – Nov 3) Intended Outcomes: The ability to describe U.S. home finance structures and consider their merits with reference to Islamic ethics – and ethics and morality generally. Required Readings: 1. Michael McMillen, Islamic Home Purchase Financing: A Conceptual Overview, available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2177255. 2. Moghul, A Socially Responsible Islamic Finance, Chapter 5. Session 9: Halal Markets (November 4 – November 9) Intended Outcomes: To appreciate the ethical and spiritual – and business – concerns arising in the development of halal globally. Required Readings: 1. Thomson Reuters, State of the Islamic Economy Report 2014, Pages 40-75; 120- 157, available for free download at https://www.zawya.com/ifg- publications/Thomson_Reuters_State_of_the_Global_Islamic_Economy_Report_ 20142015-251114170832G/. If you have difficulty, please let me know. 2. Jonathan Wilson, Shaping the Halal Into a Brand, Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 1., No. 2 (2010), Pages 107-123. Session 10: Environmental Consciousness (November 10 – November 17) *****Quiz #2: November 18-19***** Intended Outcomes: To intelligently discuss whether Islamic finance principles and the contemporary Islamic finance industry are socially responsible. Required Reading: 5 Moghul, A Socially Responsible Islamic Finance, Chapter 3. Session 11: Labor & Welfare (November 27 – December 1) Intended Outcomes: To appreciate the spiritual place of work in Islam and the rights and obligations of workers. Required Reading: 1. Adnan Zulfiqar, Religious Sanctification of Labor Law: Islamic Labor Principles and Model Provisions, 9 Univ. of PA Journal of Labor & Employment Law 421 (Winter 2007). 2. Muhammad Hashim Kamali, The Right to Education, Work and Welfare in Islam (Fundamental Rights and Liberties in Islam Series) by Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Pages 112-134, 139-147, 191-209. Session 12: Impact: Waqf & Community Development (December 2 – December 8) Intended Outcomes: To design solutions for the financial sustainability of community and community institutions. Required Readings: 1. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization (1990), Pages 68-91 (Chapter 5, entitled ‘A Shift of Mind’). 2. Randi Deguilhem, The Waqf in the City, in Salma K. Jayyusi with Renata Holod, Attilio Petruccioli and André Raymond, eds., The City in the Islamic World (2008), Pages 923-950. 3. Kamali, The Right to Education, Work and Welfare in Islam 232-242, Session 13: Reimagining Islamic Finance (December 9 – December 15) Intended Outcomes: To assess contemporary financial methods, Islamic and otherwise, in light of Islamic spirituality and ethics – and in light of Islamic law – and consider practical solutions thereto. Required Readings: 6 1. Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Sukuk and Their Contemporary Applications (trans., Yusuf T. DeLorenzo), available at http://www.kantakji.com/media/7747/f148.pdf. 2. Al-Ghazali, The Lawful and the Unlawful, Pages xxvi (paragraph beginning “Let us…” – xxviii (until paragraph ending with “transparency.”) 3. Moghul, A Socially Responsible